Superbowl Sunday was one of the first (and maybe only) video football games that actually emphasized strategy and playcalling over banging a joystick around. It included 20 of the greatest Superbowl teams ever for you to choose from, giving you the opportunity to create some great all-time matchups.
What is the '68 Green Bay Packers played the '82 Washington Redskins. Who would win? Bart Starr or Joe Theisman, etc. Besides playing against the computer, I would create tournaments where my friends and I would compete against each other and against the computer.
I even had one of the old thermal transfer printers that I would use to print out the boxscores after each game so that we could keep track of "all-time" records, etc. There was no need for a joystick because you were the coach - not the player - and all commands could be entered through the keyboard.
You would call a play and choose a player to execute the play. For example, "Sweep Left" with "Jim Taylor". The computer would then run the play with you having no control. You were often forced to helplessly watch as your wide receiver would drop a key third down pass or your halfback would get run down from behind as the clock ran out.
It was up to you to call timeouts and manage the game. Overall it was a great game for its time.
Of course the graphics were simplistic and it did have its share of bugs. For instance, a few of the teams had QBs that would go for 54 yards every time you called a QB sneak (I think the '81 Bengals were one of them). And the playcalling, although good for its era, was limited by any standard established since it was created. But I still had a great time using my '83 Los Angeles Raiders and Marcus Allen to destroy my friends in head-to-head play and set some unbreakable rushing records.
So while John Madden, Playstation & X-Box have since taken video football to all new levels. Let's not foget where they started, with 4th & Inches, Tecmo Bowl and of course Superbowl Sunday.
